Every space has energy. Your home is not only a combination of materials assembled for shelter. Every cubic centimeter of it, whether solid or seemingly empty space, is composed of infinite energy. When you enter a space that makes you immediately feel light or uplifted, or walk into a room where the atmosphere leaves you feeling depleted or drained, you are responding to the energy of the environment. If you notice tension and heaviness in a room after an argument has taken place, you are experiencing a residual energy that can linger in a room long after the argument has ended.
Sometimes energy in a home or office can become stagnant and dull. When this is the case, you may feel tired and listless, or become agitated and angry. However, learning a few simple techniques to cleanse the energy of your home can produce a remarkable and positive influence on the way you feel and on every aspect of your life.
For over 50 years, I have practiced the art of cleansing and harmonizing home energy, a skill that I named “space clearing”; some people call it home healing, smudging, or home harmonizing. No matter what name is used, present-day space clearing techniques have their source in ancient techniques practiced throughout human history. The methods and tools have varied from one culture to another, but the intent has been the same—to create greater harmony and balance.
Native Americans use drums, rattles, and burning herbs in their rituals. Some Chinese traditions use gongs, chanting, and incense. In medieval Europe, salt and prayers cleared energy, and in the Middle East, smoldering resins such as frankincense and myrrh were used to invite blessings into a home. Some of these traditions have survived virtually unchanged in modern times. The priest swinging an incense censer in a church and the person who throws salt over the shoulder to avert evil are both employing ancient techniques of space clearing, but many more have been lost to time.
These ceremonies that brought vitality to human structures generations ago are once again being used to instill peace and equilibrium in today’s homes and businesses. Burning herb bundles has become so mainstream that you can often find supplies at your local health-food store. Many people are finding that these ancient rituals can be adapted very successfully for modern-day use; most important, they are discovering that they work.
Traditional Western businesses are hiring professional space clearers because they have found that doing so increases their sales and productivity. Some of the largest real estate firms are now using the services of space clearers in order to dramatically accelerate property sales. Land management corporations are employing space clearers to perform blessings on land before they build housing developments. People who had never heard of space clearing a year ago are now ringing bells, burning herbs, and chanting mantras because they have found that their homes feel better as a result.
My passion for space clearing comes from the elders in numerous native cultures throughout the world with whom I have spent time and studied. In every culture, these wise wisdom keepers shared with me the immense value of clearing one’s personal space and living environment. In addition, I have studied feng shui from various perspectives and wrote the second book in English about feng shui. I have been privileged to be taught space clearing by the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines in Australia, the Zulu in Africa, a Brazilian shaman, Lapland healers in Finland, and Native Americans, including those from my own Cherokee heritage.
As I began space clearing in homes and businesses, I came to realize that even small changes can have a profound effect on the energy of your environment and anyone who dwells within it. You don’t need to perfect the feng shui of a space while doing space clearings in order to have an effect. Something as simple as clearing clutter with intention can profoundly transform your life in mystical ways.
As I moved deeper and deeper into my personal space-clearing journey, it seemed to me that one of the most powerful tools for cleansing and blessing a space was the body. I realized that our bodies could serve almost like lightning rods to receive, distill, magnify, and radiate life force energies.
As a result of this realization, I created unique mudras, sacred hand and body movements, to bless and seal energy in a living or work space. These movements are not something I learned from others. Instead, they came from my dreams and from a deep place of inner knowing within me. Every mudra seemed to emerge like a flower opening to the sun.
When I showed others how to do these mudras, the spaces they cleared would sparkle with vitality. Even more remarkably, it seemed that the same healing energy flowing outward was also flowing inward to reflect on the person doing the clearing. In other words, when you use these mudras, you’ll find that your body, your home, and your life are healed as well!
I then discovered that the power of each mudra was magnified through connecting with the plant kingdom and utilizing plant resins, flowers, and essential oils from various plants. It was as if the mudras activated the plant energies, and in turn the plants magnified the mudra.
The results from combining mudras and oils have been remarkable. I felt Spirit beside me as this system, which I call Elemental Space Clearing®, unfolded in my heart. It’s an honor to share my discoveries about space clearing, including Elemental Space Clearing, and clutter clearing with you in this book.
In this comprehensive book, you will learn the secrets of space clearing using different tools and methods as well as ceremonies that you can adapt to your own specific needs.
Part I is a broad introduction to space clearing. Chapter 1 offers an overview of energy and the best times to do a space clearing. Chapter 2 breaks down the four stages of space clearing. Chapter 3 delves into specific techniques and other ways you can prepare yourself and your space for a clearing. Chapter 4 demonstrates how the act of clearing clutter can go beyond just getting rid of things and instead be a transformative process. Chapter 5 guides you through the energy of each room that you’ll experience as you clear a space.
Part II, Chapter 6 through 9, offers a deeper dive into the tools and techniques you’ll use while space clearing, covering vibrational energy (sound), fire, air, water, and earth. Chapter 10 explains Elemental Space Clearing® in the context of all you’ve just learned and introduces you to the mystic mudras.
Through this book, you will learn all you need to know to clear the energy of your home or business. You will also learn a bit about feng shui, although not in the traditional Chinese form. Instead, you will gain an intuitive understanding that every space has energy and that energy affects our lives. This will deepen your understanding of space clearing as, throughout history, space clearing has always been an integral part of feng shui; the two go hand in hand. (If you’re interested in learning more about feng shui, see my books Feng Shui for the Soul and Sacred Space.)
The most important requirements for any clearing will always be your own intuition and the promptings of your heart. As you open your heart to Spirit, you will be led to the tools, the information, and the ceremonies that are right for you. It is my intent that this book will get you started on that path, so that your house will be a place that you love to come home to and where you feel a deep sense of peace.
If you feel like you’d like to dive in even deeper into space clearing or clutter clearing (perhaps find a certified practitioner—or even become one yourself!), please visit the Recommended Resources section of this book to learn more.
The work of space clearing is profoundly sacred to me, and it’s an honor to share it with you. I’m excited for you to see the enormous impact space clearing can have on every aspect of your life. The human psyche responds dramatically and powerfully to symbolic acts. Be observant and tune in to yourself as you work through this book. Powerful, profound shifts will occur deep beneath the surface. Your life and your energy field are being cleared and subsequently blessed. When you call for blessings and assistance from the unseen realm of Spirit in your space clearing, untold magic and joy can fill your heart so that your house becomes a home for your soul.